The Psycho Sniper apparently struck again last night – killing a woman as she and her husband loaded packages into their car trunk in a suburban Washington shopping mall.

The victim, who was not identified, was felled by a single shot to her head fired from a van at 9:15 p.m., police said.

Cops said the shooting was being treated as the likely work of the Beltway killer, which would make the woman the 11th victim and ninth fatality since he launched his murderous spree Oct. 2.

The attack took place in the roofed, open parking lot of the Home Depot in the Seven Corners Shopping Center in Falls Church, Va., about six miles from downtown Washington.

Fairfax County Police Chief Thomas Manger said “several witnesses” saw the shooting, but he refused to describe what they saw.

At least six possible witnesses were whisked into a nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore by FBI agents for questioning.

Manger said police were looking for a light cream-colored Chevy Astro van with a damaged right tail light that was last seen heading east on Route 50 at a high rate of speed.

A similar vehicle – described as white – was spotted speeding from the scene of the previous sniper attack, last Friday, at a gas station outside Fredericksburg, Va.

Bulletins radioed over local police scanners described the suspect as an olive skinned man with an assault rifle.

The bulletins also said the man was wearing a blue jacket and blue pants, and his van had Virginia license plates.

Manger said it was “too early” to be certain the shooter was the sniper. “But,” he stressed, “we are working it, we are investigating it with that potential in mind.”

The shooting appeared to follow the same pattern as the Beltway sniper’s previous attacks – a single shot fired from a distance without any warning at a victim picked at random.

And like the last four slayings tied to the sniper, it took place near several major arteries – including the Beltway and Interstate 66 – providing the killer with a quick escape route.

It appeared the killer is taking more risks.

Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI profiler who lives in Fredericksburg, Va., said the location sets the slaying apart from the others. “This is not bold, this is brazen,” he said. “It’s a much more highly congested area, even under the cover of darkness.”

The sniper task force went into immediate action, setting up roadblocks and checkpoints on roads for miles around as helicopters surveyed traffic from above.

Task force members were also checking area hotels and shopping malls for the getaway van.

Construction worker Manuel Solis was walking from the parking lot to Home Depot when the sniper attacked.

“I heard one shot and then the whole world started running into the store,” he said.

When he turned, he saw the victim on the ground about 100 feet from the store’s front entrance, near Route 50, where her car was parked.

He said the victim – a brunette in her mid-30s – had fallen face down on the ground.

Several people told The Post they saw a blue sedan with tinted glass and a “religious sticker” on one window driving around the parking lot in a suspicious manner around the time of the shooting.

One said the car circled the parking lot three times before the shot, then circled again and peeled off after the shot.

And a woman said the driver of the car made a shooting gesture with his finger when a couple in a car briefly blocked his way.

It was not clear whether that vehicle was involved.

The shooting was the fourth to target a woman and the third in northern Virginia. It also was the fourth to take place near a Michael’s arts and craft store.

It came after a three-day lull in the sniper’s sadistic spree – the longest since he began his one shot-one kill rampage.

It also followed a press briefing at which Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said “progress is going really well” in the investigation.

At the briefing, Moose sent a subtle RSVP to the sniper.

He announced cops had set up a special post-office box to receive tips from people who are reluctant to phone or send e-mails. But sources said the real reason for the box is to get the elusive killer to communicate with them again.

To date, the Beltway Sniper’s sole written communication – “Dear policeman, I am God” – was scrawled on a tarot death card found near the scene of the eighth shooting, eight days ago.

The killer hasn’t been heard from since, apparently because his taunting message was leaked despite a written warning on the tarot card that it be kept from the media.

In other developments yesterday:

* A “sickened” President Bush denounced the killing spree as “terrorism” and vowed to provide all federal assistance possible to bring the murderer to justice.

“To think that there is a coldblooded killer at home taking innocent life. I weep for those who lost their loved ones,” Bush said.

“The idea of moms taking their kids to school and sheltering them from a potential sniper attack is not the America that I know,” he added.

* Police in Baltimore questioned an ex-Marine with sniper training, a large gun collection, and tarot cards in his house.

But late last night, right before the latest attack, Montgomery police spokeswoman Louise Marthens said, “At this time, the task force believes this is not related to our sniper incidents.”

* The attack also apparently cleared six suspects, who, it was learned, were under 24-hour surveillance.

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HUNTING GROUND (map / graphic)

Here is the Beltway Sniper’s trail of carnage so far, including last night’s apparently related shooting

* A woman is fatally shot in the head at 9:15 last night in the parking lot of the Falls Church, Va., Home Depot.